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Brad Nicholson didn't have a clue he was sick and found out by fluke after a random blood pressure test at a local drug store.

Bored while waiting for a prescription, he shoved his arm in the cuff of a blood pressure testing machine and was surprised to see a high level reading. So he did it again, with the same result.

His parents Mieke and Greg figured the machine wasn’t working properly so they took him to their family doctor for more tests to be sure. The results were shocking. Brad only had 16 per cent kidney function. That was in June 2011 and not long after the diagnosis he went on peritoneal dialysis to remove waste products and excess water from his body. It’s like hemodialysis, but blood is cleaned while inside the body rather than in a machine. It all happens at home while a person is sleeping.

By November 2011, Brad, 16 at the time, was having a transplant with an organ donated by his cousin Stephanie Huiskamp.

Thankfully, the surgery was successful and donor and recipient are both doing well.

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In fact, Brad was feeling so good he went to the Kidney Foundation’s Camp Kivita for kids with kidney disease and transplantations in the summer of 2012. It was one of the best experiences of his life.

“Being at camp makes you feel you belong somewhere outside a hospital setting,” said the 19-year-old who loved camp so much, he went on to do a leader in training program and hopes to return next year as a counsellor. Brad can’t go to Kivita, which is integrated into mainstream Camp Wenonah, in Bracebridge, this summer because he’s in school at George Brown College studying construction trades technology.

But he’s sure going to miss the sailing, canoeing in a 15-person Voyageur, swimming, the weekly talent show and the camp food.

For him, mealtimes are a hoot and holler — literally. That’s when everyone joins in singing their heads off, chanting as loud as humanly possible, jumping up on the benches and stomping their feet. It must make the food go down better.

There are so many activities — which kids do at their own pace — that there’s no time to get homesick or bored.

And though he’d been to another camp growing up, Kivita was his first experience with other kids in the same boat. What made him feel great was knowing the camp was accessible to kids with disabilities and that medical staff were on site at all times, just in case.

“I also had some awesome counsellors who were very into everything we were doing,” Brad said. “They make kids very comfortable, welcome and at home.”

His mom didn’t have any concerns either. “Two of the nurses were from SickKids (where he attended clinics) and one gave me her cellphone number,” said Mieke, adding her son got sick the first year and was immediately transported to a local hospital where tests were run to ensure it wasn’t serious. A few hours later, he was back at camp with his pals hardly skipping a beat.

“He loved camp and is very sad he’s not going back this year,” said Mieke adding she and her younger son, Lewis, 17, have also been diagnosed with kidney disease but in their case their organs are functioning at 59 per cent and manageable.

Despite the transplant, Brad can do what most other kids can except for contact sports because after the surgery, the kidney is situated at the front of his abdomen so it can be damaged, explained his mother.

Brad doesn’t hesitate to recommend Kivita. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience,” he said. “Even if you’re on dialysis, you go to the hospital in the morning and are back at camp in the afternoon. Camp will make your summer.”

This year, The Kidney Foundation of Canada and its two Ontario camps — Kivita, for kids, and Dorset, for families, have joined the Fresh Air Fund which is helping make a difference in the lives of children who need it most.

With your gift, the Fresh Air Fund can help send 25,000 disadvantaged and special needs children to camp. The experience gives them memories to last a lifetime.

If you have benefitted from the Fresh Air Fund or have a story to tell, email lferenc@thestar.ca or phone 416-869-4309.

Our target is $650,000.

BY CHEQUE: Mail to the Toronto Star, Fresh Air Fund, One Yonge St., Toronto, ON M5E 1E6.

The Star does not authorize anyone to solicit on its behalf. Tax receipts will be issued in September.

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